Brooklyn Shipping Container Café Turns Out the Tunes

Bubbling over with creativity and artisanal entrepreneurial activity, Brooklyn has long been New York City’s leading hipster hub.

This tradition continues with the recent arrival of The Lot Radio in an abandoned triangular lot in Greenpoint, at the edge of Williamsburg.

Founded by French photographer Francois Vaxelaire, The Lot Radio is essentially a popup shipping container café that also houses an independent radio station.

The unassuming structure is made from a recycled shipping container divided in half.

One half of the container is set up as an audio booth while the other half functions as a simple kiosk counter, offering drinks, coffee and pastries.

From early in the morning to late at night, The Lot hosts a diverse array of local DJs and performers via livestream.

The church across the road donated several old wooden pews for outdoor seating and the surrounding yard is decorated with quirky paraphernalia, such as mannequin parts, garden gnomes and lawn flamingos.

When the unusual triangular lot became available for lease, Vaxelaire recognised its potential immediately.

In an interview with Gothamist, he said, “It’s magic. It’s a triangle, you have no neighbours, you have a view of New York City; it’s atypical.”

In a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood where towering condos and high-end retailers have snapped up most prime waterfront real estate in recent years, The Lot Radio offers a reassuring makeshift homage to the neighbourhood’s edgy, industrial past.